Incentive - September 2008 - (Page 28) COVER STORY “We believe that everybody should be recognized at least once a week if possible.” –Tommy Lee Hayes-Brown they sit and decide what level of reward or recognition this nomination deserves. So again, it’s all left up to the associates. Those recommendations are then given to local management to review, but in general, those recommendations are approved and announced to the office, and the person gets their recognition and then their gift.” The gifts are from an online catalog and come in four grades that correspond to characters from MetLife’s brand spokespersons: Snoopy and the other characters from the Peanuts comic strip. The actual dollar value of the awards is not huge. They range from items like a CD or logoed T-shirt at the Woodstock level, to a silver Tiffany bracelet or gas grill at the highest, or Snoopy, level. The top-tier “formal”-level winners— the Best of the Best—don’t just go collect a crystal Snoopy or Lucy plaque in Rhode Island once a year, Hayes-Brown notes. Having found the cream of the crop, the corporate recognition committee skims their expertise off over the next year. “We count on them to review things that we’re thinking about doing, or get their take on new programs,” Hayes-Brown says. “They are leaders of our company, and we find their opinions invaluable.” Making the annual winners members of this associate advisory panel not only provides the company a group to bounce recognition ideas off of, it adds to the prestige of the award. “They’re still recognized throughout the year as an ambassador of the Best of the Best,” Hayes-Brown says. The Next Step Like any good recognition program, especially one created by the employees themselves, the Best of the Best program is something of a work in progress. When Brennan took over as recognition chairperson at the beginning of 2007, a recognition task force made up of a dozen http://Leatherman.com http://Leatherman.com
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